


People Who Wait for the Rainbow

by Maiyan



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama & Romance, Drunk Sex, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Love Triangles, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Smut, Partial Nudity, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiyan/pseuds/Maiyan
Summary: Over a century ago, the Amano family was involved in a scandal that had left them poor, tarnished their reputation, yet forever indebted to the Morinozuka family. With her family struggling to get back into prominence, the Amano's rebellious daughter ends up showing her worst side to the former Wild Type, that could potentially affect both of their families' relationship.
Relationships: Morinozuka Takashi/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crosspost and partial rewrite of the original fanfiction with the name name from FF.net. I’m planning on continuing it on here.

"…One beer, please!"

Wiping down the tables, a sigh came out of the brunette, before she stood up straight and rolled her aching shoulders. The smell of charcoal and alcohol filled the air, while she wandered past the socializing customers, to pick up some of the dirtied dishes and glasses that was left behind from the customers. Smiling at the leaving customers, yelling out a quick ‘ _Thank you!_ ’, she had made her way to the back kitchen to clean up.

Compared to the rowdy noises outside, the kitchen was more or less quiet for the time being. It was only 9 PM…Only three more hours until her shift was over. Already looking irritated and tired, she stood there, letting out a long sigh.

"Hazuki-chan!" a man hollered. "Are you busy? Kaori-chan can't take orders right now!"

"Yeah, I’m comin’!" she shouted, quickly drying out her hands

Slapping her cheeks, grabbing the nearby tray, and putting on her cheerful business smile, Amano Hazuki approached the many familiar faces who frequented the Asayu izakaya. Some of the businessmen glanced up at the waitress, as a few waved at her to come to their table. Approaching a table and pulling out her pad and pen, the woman glanced at a certain cheeky customer that simply made her blood **boil**.

"Evenin' Hazuki-chan! How is my one of my _favorite_ waitresses, tonight? " a young man greeted, casually raising up his highball and winking at her.

Letting out a long hiss, the woman lightly kicked the table, and looked at the older man who was making the food at the counter.

"HEY BOSS! That dumbass who was hittin’ on Kaori and forgot to pay last time is back!" Hazuki hollered. Leaning down, she was fighting the urge to beat him up in front of the other customers. " _Those shitty compliments might work on my little sis, but I'm **NOT** letting you dine and dash again, ya hear?!_"

Watching his face turning dark at her threat, the waitress watched the young man quickly dart out of his chair and out the door. Hazuki's face quickly turned twisted, following him out the door, and into the lively streets of Tokyo. As he weaved in and out of the crowd, the man had tried to lose the woman amongst the crowd of people.

"HEY! GET BACK 'ERE!" she screeched, readying to throw her tray at him.

Within seconds, the woman slowed down to a stop, after seeing the man getting kicked in the head, and collapsing in the sidewalk. Stunned, Hazuki stood there for a brief moment, seeing a pair hovering over him, while a small crowd began to gather over the unconscious man.

' _Fuuuuuuuuuuuc-! Oyaji won't like it if this caused_ ** _this_** _much of a commotion…_ ' Hazuki whined in her head, before dragging her body towards the crowd.

Pushing through the crowd, her eyes met with a tall male with black hair and a shorter young man with blond hair. By the looks of things, the boy was being scolded by the man and it looked like she was interrupting them. Slowly clearing her throat, Hazuki nervously nodded to them.

" _Were…_ Were ya the ones who knocked out the guy? That jerk was tryin' to dine and dash again. The boss wouldn't be super happy if we let him get away again," she laughed nervously.

The young boy smiled brightly at his companion. "We did well, didn't we, Takashi?" he chirped, as the man silently nodded.

"I apologize for wasting yer time," Hazuki quickly bowed. "Please stop by Asayu! I'll treat ya to a meal, for doin' this! The head chef, who's also my boss and dad is a _really_ _g_ reat chef! Thank you **_so much_** for catching him!" she emphasized, yanking the collar of the unconscious customer, pulling him back with her to the restaurant.

As the blond boy waved goodbye at her, a luxurious black car had soon approached the two of them. Once Hazuki was gone from their view, and the crowd had died down, the pair had gotten in, and sat down next to each other. Their faces had gone from a friendly look, to an inquisitive, thoughtful look. The name of the place had gotten them to think for a moment.

"… _Asayu_ …" the young boy repeated. "…She's Kou-chan's daughter, isn't she?"

The man looked over and nodded. "Kousuke-san and their family seem to be doing well,"

They passed by the place, watching a few customers filing out, waving goodbye with a smile on their faces. They saw Hazuki and a young woman emerge outside, politely bowing at them. As the young woman returned inside, Hazuki stared up into the sky with a solemn look on her face, not noticing the black car that had stopped in front of the place, before returning inside.

* * *

"…Kaori-chan! Hazuki-chan! Good news!"

As the Amano sisters were cleaning up the place for the day, the older man approached them, causing them to stop and look up from what they were doing. The exhausted Hazuki had sat down, eyeing her father, while the bright-eyed Kaori blinked at him.

"Did ya finally win the lotto, and we're getting a raise?" Hazuki snickered. " _Hell yeah!_ I've been savin' for that bike, ya know?"

Smacking her in the back of the head, Kousuke gave her a blank stare. "No wonder Okaasan was worrying about you," he grumbled. "All three of us will be meeting with some business associates…We're going to talk about expanding this place! Maybe, we can open up a store in a nicer place like Ginza!" he gushed.

Kaori's face quickly lit up, approaching her father with a joyful look on her face. "That is such great news, Papa!" she squealed.

" _Ha_ _…_ _Really?_ " the other Amano child grimaced, scratching the back of her short hair. "Well, count me out. I told ya, I'm not getting involved with that sort of business. Kao-chan's the one takin' over the place, isn't she, _Oyaji_?"

Kousuke pinched the bridge of his nose at his daughter's attitude. As he looked up, the owner watched his oldest daughter untie her work bandanna revealing her straight, long bob cut hairstyle that was hidden underneath. While lazily scratching the back of her head, Hazuki began to wander towards the curtained area, leading towards the stairwell that connected the restaurant to their home.

"Hazuki-chan…" her father began. "Listen, you really…"

"Kao-chan, text me if it goes well, okay?" she said casually, lightly waving at the two of them. "I'm headin' to bed,"

"But, Onee-cha-"

Lightly touching Kaori's shoulder, Kousuke shook his head at her. "Leave her alone. Your sister won't listen to anyone, don't have your hopes up when it comes down to her," he muttered with some disappointment in his voice.

"Otousan! Let's try to convince her, I'm sure we ca-"

"…Listen to me, Kaori. I've tried. But your so-called ' _Oneesan_ ', is a lost case. There's no hope for someone like her," Kousuke interrupted, shaking his head at her.

As their father walked back into the kitchen, he left his youngest daughter alone, to think to herself. However, standing hidden at the end of the stairwell, Hazuki let out a long sigh, before going back upstairs with a lonesome look on her face.

* * *

" _O-Oneechan!_ "

It was three days since their father's little 'announcement'. Stopping in her place, seeing the uniformed Kaori trying to chase her down, Hazuki eyed her younger sister. They were supposed to head to their respective schools: Kaori was going to the local high school, while Hazuki was heading to the station to go to her college. The woman let out a large sigh, placing down her backpack to the ground and facing her little sister, who was completely out of breath trying to catch up with her.

Taking a step back, and inspecting Kaori from head to toe, Hazuki shook her head and lightly smiled at the long-haired teen. Her button up shirt was looking off, her skirt was still unzipped, and her school tie was tied wrong. Moving the two of them off to the side, the older Amano sister began fixing her sister's appearance.

"Ah~," Hazuki sighed. "I don't want you gettin' attacked by some perv. Mayu's still mad about _last_ time , remember?"

The girl could feel her face heating up in sheer embarrassment at her appearance, before shaking her head, remembering the topic at hand. "Uh, Oneechan. Listen...Can't you change your mind about going with us? I mean, Papa sounded like…"

Before she said anything else, a person on a motorcycle was speeding towards the two of them, causing Hazuki's face to quickly light up. Pulling off their helmet, a tall woman with long, dark lavender hair and gray eyes smiled and winked at the two Amano sisters, ignoring the current state between the two of them.

"Mornin' Hazuki and Kaori-chan!" the woman said brightly. "Need a ride to class, Hazuki? …Then again, I _am_ your ride for tonight,"

Looking at the two women, Kaori batted her eyes at her older sister, not knowing about her so-called 'plans' for tonight. "Huh? You're going out with Mayu tonight, Oneechan?" Kaori questioned.

Picking up her backpack, the short-haired sister waved to her younger sister. " _Goukon._ Mayu wants me to come with her. I'll just drink and sleep over at Mayu's place if I end up missing the last train," she grinned, putting on her helmet.

" **Hah!** As if anything bad will happen to you. You end up hurting more guys when you're drunk and crying, compared to when you're angry," Mayu joked, feeling her best friend slapping her arm.

As Mayu put on her helmet, she waved to Kaori and the pair drove off, leaving the worried Kaori standing there, watching the two. Looking away, the long-haired sister began to walk to school once more with an eerie feeling bubbling inside of her, knowing something terrible was going to happen.

* * *

"I'm already here and I brought my friend,"

Peering inside the place, Hazuki furrowed her eyebrows and quickly checked outside at the sign to see if they were really at the right place. It was a rival izakaya, owned by someone her father associated with…A place that Hazuki _definitely_ didn't want to go to. Hazuki hid behind her best friend, as they made way to their table and sat down. Her eyes looked at the handsome men who sat across from them. To her, they looked like they popped out of an expensive fashion magazine, completely out of her league.

Leaning over, the short-haired girl eyed the men suspiciously. " _How did ya get dragged into this? They don't look like the types to be hangin' out 'ere,_ " Hazuki whispered.

" _Hah? One of my senpais wants to hook up with one of them,_ " Mayu whispered, nudging her. " _Just play along,_ "

Before long, an older woman had approached the two of them with a bright smile on her face. As she waved at them, she noticed something was off with the guy's section. "Ah. Is Morinozuka-san not here yet?" she questioned, looking at the two men there.

"Morinozuka-san said he was taking care of something with Haninozuka-san," one of the men nodded, looking up from his phone.

"Anyways! This is Nakamura Mayu and Amano Hazuki, two of my underclassmen at my school," the girl beamed. "Mayu-chan is an art major, and Hazuki-chan is a… _science_ major."

Mayu nodded to them. "Nice to meet you!" she said, before glancing over at her distracted best friend.

Quickly perking up, Hazuki awkwardly bowed to them. " _Nice to meet cha_ …" she mumbled with a dazed look on her face, feeling herself getting jabbed in the ribs by Mayu.

"Oh! Morinozuka-san!" one of them called out, waving their hand at their friend approaching the booth.

A tall man had approached the table, quietly greeting his friends. As Mayu felt her cheeks turning red at the sight of him, Hazuki was busy staring at the menu looking at the food and alcohol, thinking about what to get for herself. She didn't bother looking up, despite Mayu's frequent nudges for her personal opinion.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he muttered, taking a seat across from Hazuki. " _Ah_ ,"

Looking up from her menu, the brunette froze in her place, locking eyes with the man. Giving a curt nod, Hazuki noticed everyone suddenly became silent. Her large, blue eyes quickly looked over at everyone, before looking back at the man, wondering what just happened.

"Somethin' the matter?" she questioned.

"You're from Asayu."

Inspecting his face once more, the girl quietly batted her eyes before realizing the connection. "… _EH?_ HOLY SHIT, IT'S _YO_ -" she shouted, before feeling Mayu's hand covering her mouth.

"Well…Looks like Hazuki-chan knows Morinozuka-san," the girls' upperclassman laughed nervously. "Well! Let's order some drinks, shall we?"

While their drinks were being brought to them, everyone began to talk, getting to know one another. Only two who kept quiet were Hazuki and Takashi, both of them more preoccupied with some different matters. Their respective friends had urged them to speak with each other, but by the looks of things, they were already uncomfortable just being there.

Everyone else became lively while time went one, as the pair just listened into the conversation, casually speaking up when they had to. The seating arrangement had changed, and it left Hazuki sitting next to the tall male, leaving them quietly sipping their beverages or eating the food.

Taking another sip of her beer, the woman looked at Takashi. "I'm sorry for not talking much," she hiccuped, feeling the effects of the alcohol slowly getting to her.

She should've left earlier. It was already a good time to get her best friend and go hom-

" _Hazukiiiiiii~!_ You have my spare key right?" the lavender-haired woman hollered, looking at her buzzed friend.

It was too late. By the looks of things, Mayu had given signs that she wasn't going back with Hazuki to her place. She and one of the guys were drunk, looking like they were in a hurry to run off to a love hotel. Rolling her eyes, trying to hide her disappointment, the brunette let out a long sigh, drinking her water, and soon downing her third glass.

"Ah…You have fun, Mayu," she muttered, feeling a bit fuzzy in the head. "…I'll…head back to your place,"

As Hazuki got up, something felt a bit wrong with her. Even if she was wearing her favorite pair of comfy heels, she was still stumbling towards the exit and her head felt fuzzy. Quickly getting up, Takashi gently touched her arm, looking at the beet-faced woman, who looked like she was about to cry.

"…Are you okay?" Takashi questioned.

Pulling on his arm, the waitress was stumbling out of place, hoping that the others wouldn't see them or call them out. Out into the night, Hazuki leaned onto the man, trying to not look at him, and ignoring what was her conscious was screaming at her to _not_ do. She was already embarrassed doing this sort of thing with a guy, more or less a guy she just met.

"…Hey," the brunette began, her face turning shy.

"…Is it okay…If you stayed with me tonight?"


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

" _…Is it okay…If you stayed with me tonight?_ "

Everything felt hazy and vague for the woman after she made that bold remark. It wasn't until that irritating beeping that echoed throughout Mayu's apartment and that sudden urge to use the bathroom that caused Hazuki to wake up from her long slumber. As she sat up, her vision felt a tad bit blurry, realizing that her prescriptive colored lenses had popped out during her drunken walk here.

' _At least I made it here,_ ' Hazuki sighed in relief, slowly reaching over to check her phone. ‘... _Wait.’_

What stopped her was a completely different story. Doing a double take, something felt a bit off. These _weren't_ the clothes she wore to that goukon. Why was she wearing _his_ shirt? Why was he next to her, sleeping in Mayu's bed with his arm draped around her waist?

Sitting there with her face turning red, the brunette slowly covered her mouth with her free hand. What...did she do last night?!

Quietly prying his arm off of her, Hazuki tiptoed into the bathroom. Taking a good look at herself in the mirror: her hair and face was a complete mess. Touching her breasts…Yup, her bra was missing. Kneeling on the floor, the woman covered her face, thinking about the several possibilities that could have went down between the two of them.

' _Did we_ _really_ _…We couldn't…_ ' she thought in horror.

Reality had quickly set in. She was only twenty. It was currently late Spring, and she was barely considered as an adult, seeing that she dressed up all pretty during her Coming of Age ceremony during January and she just turned twenty last August. Other than her drunken escapades with Mayu and her classmates from high school and college…This was pretty much her first huge mistake as an adult.

"What the _hell_ did you do last night, ya _**fuckin'**_ idiot!" she cursed to herself.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Hazuki reluctantly emerged from the bathroom, swiping her clothes and her bra from the pile and retreated back into the restroom to change. Taking off Takashi's shirt, she was greeted by what she assumed was his 'scent'. It wasn't some cheap cologne that she was used to smelling off of the male customers of Asayu. It was strangely calming...

' _Gah. Stupid. Stop being a creep,_ ' Hazuki stopped, her face twisting up into a disgusted look, and quickly releasing Takashi's shirt from her grasp and folding it properly.

A light knock was heard from outside of the bathroom, causing the woman to jump.

"… _Hazuki-san?_ "

"Ah! Are ya awake?" the woman spoke up, shuffling to put on her clothes and opening the door.

Greeted by the towering male's shirtless bod, Hazuki couldn't help, but to stare. He had a six pack, like any other athlete, but paired up with whatever he wore, she was reacting quite differently towards him. Her body was urging her to get closer to him. She _wanted_ to touch him, but deep down she was still trying to process everything that just happened.

Eyeing her, Takashi lowered himself to her level, making eye contact with her, with a worried look on his face. "Are you still feeling sick?" he questioned, lightly patting her head.

Snapping out of her train of thought, the woman looked away. "Haha! _N-N_ _o!_ " she laughed nervously, waving a hand in front of her face. "Y-Ya needed to use the bathroom right?" Hazuki continued, shuffling past him. "If ya need to head out, I'll make sure the door's locked! Mayu will be pretty mad if I kept her place open fer robbers to come in!"

A confused look was on Takashi’s face as he slowly entered the bathroom. As soon as the door closed, the woman sat on the floor feeling her face turning bright red. It was terrible. How was she going to explain this to Mayu? She got drunk and probably did something stupid last night that made her first time forgettable and nothing like those sappy romance movies or novels. It felt pitiful and embarrassing. She didn't even remember if she even kissed him.

Gently touching her lips, Hazuki sat there closing her eyes. “I couldn’t remember _that_ , too?” she sighed, slumping over.

After a few minutes, a fully-clothed Takashi walked out, noticing the sighing Hazuki. She slouching in front of the floor table, watching television. By the looks of things, she didn't even make or eat breakfast.

"…Are you going to head out now?" he questioned, as the woman quietly turned off the television and got up.

Smiling at him, Hazuki nodded, trying to keep the events of what happened last night in the back of her mind.

"Yeah, do you want to go out and get breakfast together?"

* * *

"Oh, you look like a cute doll, Kao-chan!"

Mayu's face turned bright pink, hugging Hazuki's little sister in pure delight. Kaori blushed, while Hazuki casually laughed at the two of them. Today was the day that Kaori and Kousuke were going to see the family that was going to ‘help’ the Amano family business. Both Mayu and Hazuki were standing outside the restaurant, waiting for the car to arrive, while acting as a so-called 'bodyguard' for Kaori. The younger Amano was wearing a kimono and had her hair and makeup done by Mayu. She stood there looking at the two older girls with a sheepish look on her face.

"Kaori-chan, if something bad happens, _don't_ hesitate to call me or Mayu," Hazuki nodded, lightly patting her sister’s shoulder.

Walking over to her best friend and slapping her in the back, the other woman grinned. " **Yeah!** Remember, I was 'part' of the Disciplinary Committee in high school!" Mayu laughed heartily. "…I can easily scare off those son of bitches if they dare mess with you,"

The art student's face turned evil at her thoughts of torture, while Kaori clung onto her sighing sister. As their father emerged from the restaurant, his hues looked at the girls, and his eyebrow rose at the sight of Mayu’s snickering.

"Seriously, Mayu-chan?" he sighed. "I don't want those people coming here and seeing Kaori-chan crying."

"Ah! My bad," Mayu sighed, gently patting the frightened teen.

"Oyaji, why did ya force Kao-chan dress up like this?" Hazuki remarked, looking at her sister's kimono and made-up hair. "We’re definitely not in the Showa Era," she huffed.

Smacking the woman in the back of the head, Kousuke glared at her. "The Morinozuka family is still a traditional family," he growled. "I'm not letting the future head go to this meeting wearing those casual clothes you kids wear," he grumbled.

As a luxury car slowly approached the four of them, Hazuki and Mayu reluctantly waved the other two goodbye. They stood in front of the restaurant and watched the car pull away into the distance. For the time being, they began to walk together towards the station, chatting with one another over what Kousuke had said. They were planning to kill time in the downtown area while they were gone, and head back to open the restaurant by the time those two had gotten back.

" _Morinozuka_ , huh..." Mayu echoed. "You know, doesn't that name sound familiar, especially to you?" she questioned, nudging the brunette.

" _ **Hah?**_ What are you saying?"

A devilish smile formed on the violet-haired woman's face, pulling her best friend to the side. "You know~," she giggled. "That tall, handsome guy with the six pack that you went home with? You kept blushing after leaving him that morning~ Was he that good in be-"

Hazuki's face turned bright red, quietly slapping her best friend in the arm. "H-Hey stop!" she squealed. "Listen, we were drunk, and it was probably a one-time thing!"

"…Maybe," Mayu remarked, shaking her head. "But, judging by look on your face… I haven't seen you like this in a while. It’s good to move on and find someone new."

The brunette looked down and let out a long sigh. "…Still, it's been three years. I still feel like it's my fault,"

As Mayu gently hugged her depressed friend, the two of them had entered a posh café, hoping they would forget their worries for the time being.

* * *

"It's been a while, Akira-kun,"

Bowing politely at the head of the Morinozuka family, Kousuke smiled at the bearded man, who returned the polite bow. They were sitting together in a tatami mat room, while Kaori glanced around with a curious look on her face. The dark-haired man looked over to Kaori and smiled at her. Her eyes met with the older man, and she froze up, causing the two men to laugh.

"…Your daughter looks mature for her age. Are you sure she's **not** your eldest daughter?" Akira questioned.

Waving a hand in the air, Kousuke sighed. "Oh no. Kaori and Hazuki are polar opposites," he chuckled. "Both of them actually end up working well with each other,"

Kaori bowed to him and smiled, while the man lightly nodded. "…Kousuke-kun," Akira began. "I know your family has been actually through a rough time because of your wife, _**but**_ …"

"… **But** …?"

"It's already difficult seeing that most of the older generation is aware of what happened to your family. Associating with you and your restaurant, without a proper 'plan', is going to ruin not just my family, but also the Haninozuka family's reputation…" he explained, looking at the both of them.

Closing his eyes, the brunette let out a long sigh. "Akira-san, both Kaori and I came here hoping for some help to save Asayu," he said sternly. "We are willing to work with you and your family, as long as it helps ours,"

"…I haven't finished yet," Akira continued. "I know both of you want your place to still keep going. That's why we should re-establish your family in a more…proper manner. Originally, I had expected your eldest daughter to be here. It would help,"

A blank look formed on Kousuke's face. "Why do you need Hazuki? I told you, she's not willing _to-_ "

"She's going to Tokyo University, isn't she? Having her here, we could have pay for her tuition in exchange for what I'm about to offer," Akira remarked. "But, instead, we'll pay for Kaori-san's tuition, assuming she's going to college,"

Confusion arose from the Amano family, as the father and the daughter looked at each other. Furrowing his eyebrows, the man looked at his associate with suspicion.

"…I want your daughter, Kaori, to be betrothed to my eldest son, Takashi," he said. "I want everyone to understand, that we're still clearly on good grounds, despite what happened. I know Takashi is a good man, he will take care of Kaori-san,"

Kaori looked at the man, trying to think of a proper way to answer. ' _…Is this right?_ ' she thought to herself, her face looking like she was clearly shaken by the offer.

"Kaori?" her father questioned looking at the teenager with concern.

"Papa…I…"

The door slid open. There stood Takashi, fresh from coming back from club activities. He politely bowed to both Kousuke and Kaori, who returned the bow. He slowly made way towards his father and sat properly next to him, leaving the Amano family representatives stunned by his appearance.

"Kousuke-kun. Kaori-san. This is my eldest son, Takashi," Akira said, before looking over at his son.

"Takashi, this is your bride, Kaori-san,"


	3. Chapter 3

_"Takashi, this is your bride, Kaori-san,”_

Letting out a large sneeze, Hazuki pouted, cracking a few windows open to let some air into the restaurant. Pulling out her cell phone out of her apron, the brunette stretched for a bit before looking at it with a lazy look on her face. It was around 4PM. An hour before the place had opened, and she was waiting for Mayu to come back from the store.

"Sheesh. Oyaji and Kaori-chan are taking their time coming back," the brunette grumbled, wandering towards the seating area, and laying down on the tatami mats.

She let out a large yawn, wanting to take a quick nap before her father and sister came back from the Morinozuka's. Instead, she was texting her fellow classmates for the time being, trying to keep herself amused and awake. However, her little work was proven futile, as the woman found herself slowly drifting off. Her body shifted a bit and her head was laying on the seat pillows.

The door clicked and slid open. Coming inside, the artist was carrying a bag of snacks, with a cheerful look on her face.

" _I'm back!_ " Mayu beamed, closing the door behind her. "Hazuki-chaaaan~ Let's head upstairs and _eat-_ "

Staring at the sleeping figure before her, Mayu let out a long sigh. She sat on a nearby chair and smiled at her, before feeling her phone vibrate in the back of her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw Kaori’s name on the screen before checking it.

> _'Mayu-chan._
> 
> _Oneechan's not answering her phone,_
> 
> _But if you're still in the restaurant, Papa and I are bringing home a guest, so please stick around to meet him!_
> 
> _\- Kaori._ '

The woman took a long moment to look at the text before eyeing her napping best friend. She had a dark suspicion on who was coming to this place, and wasn't feeling too happy about it one bit. Scratching the back of her dyed head, Mayu quietly began to fish into her bag to grab a snack and begin eating it in the process.

She...didn’t want to be involved in this one bit.

"…Hazuki? We're _bac-_ "

It was more than obvious who it was. Mayu stared at Takashi, who had entered the place behind Hazuki's father and sister. She couldn't help, but to raise an eyebrow at him, before looking the Amano family. The taller male didn’t bother addressing Mayu, but quietly looked over at the sleeping brunette instead.

"Mayu-chan! Why didn't you bring Oneechan back to her room?!" Kaori whined. "She's going to get sick!"

"Duh, I wanted her to 'meet' your guest," she laughed.

The chef shook his head, before removing his shoes, getting onto the tatami mat, and kicking the sleeping woman.

"Oi Hazuki! Wake up!" he barked, noticing his daughter being unresponsive, before leaning down, and noticing she was snoring.

"Well, I can try hoisting up to her room," Mayu sighed, wandering over and lifting her best friend onto her back.

As everyone watched Mayu struggling to carry the woman back to the residential area, Takashi walked over and plucked the sleeping Hazuki off of her back and into his arms. As Kaori and Kousuke batted their eyes in surprise, they quickly shuffled over to him, while the other woman eyed the man with a slightly defeated look on her face.

"…Can you show me to her room?" he questioned.

"Takashi-kun! I'm extremely sorry about this!" Kousuke bowed.

A smile formed on the Takashi’s face, while Mayu had wandered on ahead, trying to keep herself from grinning. As they were heading into the Amano household, the pair didn't bother conversing with one another during the short walk to Hazuki’s room. As Mayu cracked open the door, she looked at Takashi thoughtfully.

"…You know…" the lavender-haired woman began. "…It's pretty bad that you're engaged to Kaori-chan. Hazuki-chan kept thinking about what happened between the two of you,"

He remained silent.

Entering the cluttered room, Takashi gazed at the various astronomy posters that filled up Hazuki's wall, while noticing a large telescope that was nearby her window. As he placed her on her bed, the man sat down and looked at her for a brief moment, gazing at her sleeping face.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he was quietly recalling the night between the two of them:

_Her half naked figure stood out on the balcony, her hues staring up into the night sky. Hazuki was humming to herself, while Takashi looked at her, hoping she wasn’t doing anything silly. He gently touched her arm, causing her to perk up._

_A small smile formed on her face as she slowly got close to him._

“ _...Something wrong?” she whispered._

“ _No...Nothing’s wrong,” he replied._

_The brunette let out a small laugh as she looked back out into the sky. “It’s a beautiful night tonight...” she muttered. “My dream… is to go to a place where the place is filled with stars...”_

_Looking at him, a curious look formed on her dazed face._

“ _How about you? What is_ _ **your**_ _dream?_ _”_

Gently jabbing his cheek, Mayu eyed the man, before a catty grinned formed on the woman's face. He snapped out of his little state to look at her, causing her to snicker at him.

"What did you two do, anyways?" she questioned, wiggling her eyebrows.

A frown formed on the former host's face, before he quietly got up and began walking towards the door.

"…We didn't do _anything_ ," he replied curtly.

Watching him leave the room, Mayu looked at Hazuki whose eyes slowly opened, and her face bright red. As she sat up, the brunette looked at her best friend, clearly unable to say anything to her.

"I…really should've expected this," Hazuki remarked, shaking her head. "It was hard to keep still,"

Her body felt strange. If her best friend wasn't in the room…What could she do? Simply wake up, and seduce the poor guy like some sick woman? Glancing down, Hazuki closed her eyes. Her chest felt tight, her eyes began to water. This felt terrible. Her first crush in the longest time is engaged to her little sister.

"Hazuki…" Mayu muttered, hugging her.

"…I-I'll be fine," she sighed, forcing a smile on her face. "I…probably need some time to just accept this and be supportive!"

Looking away, a small frown formed on Hazuki's face. It was really going to take more than just time. 

* * *

" _I hate this, I hate this…_ "

Glaring at her father who was laughing heartily with the other men, Hazuki stood in the ballroom, feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed. Cozy clothes and boots were her thing. A brand-named cocktail dress and heels? Not so much. Sure, with her being single, she was bound to be approached by some rich guys, but being dolled up into some princess felt irritating. Her legs were exposed, and she was being eyed by some guys around her age…She really needed a drink right now.

"Oneechan, just do it for Papa, okay?" Kaori whispered, looking at her with a sheepish smile on her face.

It was a formal party to announce Kaori's engagement to Takashi. As the Amano sisters were sticking close together, they looked around, trying to ignoring the people who were gossiping about their family. While the younger sister was quietly smiling towards everyone, the older one was trying to hold back on speaking out.

"…Aren't those girls...?"

"Yeah, they're from _ **that**_ family,"

"I heard their grandmother is coming here as well,"

" _ **That woman?**_ Sheesh. I hope her granddaughter isn't such a leech like her and her mother was,"

Chewing on her lower lip, Hazuki felt her hand slowly forming into a fist. How irritating. Other than her own mother’s actions, she had heard lies that her father had told her: the restaurant was _completely_ fine. In reality, it was under crippling debt from her mother running off with a good chunk of their money.

The women that married into the Amano family only cared about money, which became a curse.

Hazuki didn’t want to be like those women one bit, and hoped her younger sister wasn’t going to be like that as well.

"I…I'm going to get a drink," Hazuki muttered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

As Kaori nodded at her, the brunette slowly walked away from her, trying to keep herself calm. She didn't want to lose her cool, during her sister's time to shine. Grabbing a champagne flute, the woman stood there drinking the bubbly beverage, trying to see if she can spot Takashi within the crowd. She was hoping to find him, and probably get Kaori and him to talk to each other.

"I never seen you here before," a male voice spoke up.

Batting her eyes, Hazuki looked at the man who was hovering over her, and giving her a catty grin. A look that she's used to seeing Mayu giving to men…That same sign either said: " _Haha. I'm onto you._ ", or " _I'm interested in you, let's sleep together!_ " Reluctantly smiling at him, the brunette turned towards him, trying to give her most... _flirtatious_ look on her face.

" _Ah, really?_ " she said, cutely. "I'm Hazuki, nice to meet you~"

That cute-like voice sickened her. She needed a plan to simply excuse herself, and get back to her sister.

"Oh? Aren't you _supposed_ to be the heiress to the Amano family, _Ha-zu-ki-chan~_?" the stranger said, getting closer to her, causing her to back up into the wall. "You're closer in age with Takashi-san, but I heard you're **not** engaged to him?"

His hand moved in, tracing on the curves of her body, his face leaning close to her. His breath smelled faintly like alcohol…

"Ahaha. S-Sorry! I really need to use the bathroom!" she smiled, turning around and slowly walking off.

Without a second thought, the man began to follow her…Meanwhile, adjusting his glasses, gray eyes looked over at the sight of what was going on. Letting out a brief sigh, the bespectacled man quietly turned to his upperclassmen. They were conversing with each other in their own little group, not knowing what had just conspired.

"Morinozuka-senpai, Haninozuka-senpai," he began. "That woman you were just talking about, just ran out of the ballroom,"

A pair of eyes looked at Hazuki who was retreating out into the hallway, with the stumbling man following her. The boy looked at Takashi, who silently nodded to him. The pair quietly tried to get out of the crowd only to encounter people approaching and greeting Takashi with a smile, congratulating him for his engagement. His eyes kept a close eye on the hallway, waiting to see the woman coming back inside safe and sound.

* * *

_This is bad…_

Hazuki stood inside the bathroom stall, wondering what she could do. Her phone was with her sister, so it was impossible for her to call Mayu to pick her up. She wanted to leave and escape this whole thing, hoping she _wouldn't_ have to hurt the guy for making a move on her. Her feet ached. Her legs were cold. She simply wanted to head home and just pass out.

‘ _Ugh...I just need to go out there!_ ' the brunette encouraged herself, slapping her face to perk herself up.

Taking off her heels, Hazuki left the stall and checked her appearance once more, before leaving the bathroom. As she wandered out, the man was nowhere in sight. However…

" _Oh hey there~_ " a voice called out to her.

A hand wrapped around her waist, causing the woman to freeze up. A taller man, with ash red hair stood next to her, causing her to drop her shoes to the floor. He looked a bit younger in age than her. Possibly someone who had just entered college.

"… _Mori-senpai wanted me to get you,_ " he whispered into her ear.

"Mori-senpai?" Hazuki echoed. "You're his kouhai?"

Looking away, the woman let out a sigh. "I'll be fine, don't worry, uh…"

"Hikaru, Mori-senpai wanted both of us to get that girl," another voice chimed in. “We wouldn't hurt you~”

Another man appeared before her, putting an arm around Hazuki's bare shoulders. Batting her eyes, the woman quickly broke away and looked at the pair before her. They were twins, who had the same face, yet different hair color and hair styles. Taking her heels into her hands, Hazuki smiled at the two of them with a nervous smile on her face.

"…Morinozuka-san asked you to get me, right?" the brunette questioned with a sheepish smile. "…Thank you, but…please watch over my sister rather than me. She…might need bodyguards more than I do,"

"Hazuki!"

The man from earlier waved at her, as the woman slightly grimaced at the sight of him. She reluctantly waved goodbye towards the twins, forcing herself to approach the man, pretending he was her date.

‘“ _Don’t misbehave,” they said..._ _I just don’t want him getting near Kaori-chan._ ’

Hazuki had a plan bubbling in her head, despite knowing she should've just ditched him and run back to the ballroom. With her hand gripping onto back of her heels, Hazuki took one last look at the entrance of the ballroom, before following him into a more…secluded area.


	4. Chapter 4

It was strange.

Takashi looked at the sighing twins as they re-entered the ballroom, but didn't have Hazuki with them. Furrowing his eyebrows, he was about to approach them, only to see Kaori already coming towards him. With a worried look on her face, the former host knew something was wrong. Turning towards the doorway, Takashi had quietly exited the ballroom, making a quick dash into the hallway, trying to search for Hazuki.

"You…don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

From where she stood, her back pressing against the wall, Hazuki felt disgusted.

Was this how she was that night? Creeping up on Takashi like sick pervert and taking advantage of him? She felt like she really needed to apologize to him. After smelling the alcohol mixed in with his terrible cologne, the woman wanted to puke. She felt his body pressing against hers, his hand inching up her leg, trying to make way into a more secluded area of her body.

"If I had someone I like, what would you do?" she whispered into his ear.

"You're not talking about Morinozuka-san, are you?" he smirked.

Furrowing her eyebrows, and chewing on her lower lip, Hazuki glared at him. "So what if I am…?"

"I mean…Those women in the Amano family love snatching away other men. Your mother ran off with another guy, didn’t she? I'm already engaged to a woman myself, so I don't mind dumping her for you. After all… You probably must be good in be-"

Shoving him away, the brunette smiled at him with a grim look on her face, as he looked at her with a tiny smirk. Pushing back her messy locks that covered her caked face, Hazuki began cracking her knuckles.

"What? Picking a fight with me? Here?" he laughed. "You do know this is your sister and Morinozuka-san's official engagement party. Your family's reputation is already-"

"Already fuckin' ruined, I know," the woman growled. "But, as much as I hate it… I don't want to be used by men like you,"

Her heart was aching. Why did she get herself into this mess? She had to leave after this…She needed to leave. This was already a mistake being here and doing such a stupid thing.

Without thinking, Hazuki had punched the man square in the face. A high pitched scream had echoed throughout the empty hallway. Watching him collapse in front of her, she blinked a few times before letting out a long sigh of relief. Picking up her shoes, the woman knew she had to leave. Even if it was going to be a long walk, Hazuki needed to go to Mayu's apartment. She already messed everything up for her sister…For him.

"Ah… You've _really_ done it," an older woman sighed.

From a distance, Hazuki stared at the kimono-clad, silver haired woman who stood there from afar, and had witnessed the entire scene. A frown formed on the younger woman's face at the sight of her, before she continued to walk past her, not bothering to look at the woman in the eyes.

"Aren't you afraid of what your father is going to say?" she remarked, eyeing her.

After a brief pause, the brunette quickly shook her head.

"…After all this time? He ridiculed me for being a hopeless, lost case for this family, so what’s the point?!" Hazuki barked. "If I need to live out on the streets starvin' to death _just_ so I can get my freedom, I would rather do that than to live this damn life! ... _Fuckin'_ _old lady_."

Storming away from the sight, Hazuki closed her eyes, and headed towards the exit...Only to bump into someone. Stumbling back, she felt a hand quickly snatching her wrist, pulling her forward and helping her regain her balance. Already, the woman had another apology stirring up in her head.

"S-Sorry," she muttered, before looking up at her so-called 'savior'.

"There you are," Takashi muttered, slowly releasing her. "Kaori-san was looking for you,"

The woman could feel her heart stopping at the sight of the Morinozuka heir. She simply stood there, trying to maintain her composure. Deep down, she tell him what had just happened to her, hoping he would comfort her.

"T-Thank you…" Hazuki said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. " _But_ , I'm heading home now!" she lied, looking up with him with a sheepish smile.

A questionable look formed on Takashi's face. "Wait. Did...Did something happen?" he questioned.

Taking a deep breath, the brunette was about to say something, as she slowly turned towards the exit.

"N-No! It’s nothing! I'll see ya!"

Already darting towards the exit, Hazuki could feel her head screaming at herself for what she just did.

* * *

' _I'm done for…_ '

"Come on, sleepy head. You're hiding under there like the world is going to end."

Sitting on her bed, Mayu gently jabbed Hazuki who was crying underneath the comforter. It was the next morning. The depressed Hazuki arrived at Mayu's place at 1AM, scaring off her best friend's one night stand. The lavender-haired woman knew something like this would happen. With her best friend being smitten with her little sister's fiancé, it was obvious there was going to be some trouble between the two of them.

"IT _**IS**_ GOIN' TO END!" she whined. "WHY THA HELL DID I RUN AWAY FROM HIM?"

"It's obvious that you actually do like the guy," Mayu shrugged, watching her friend's head pop up from underneath the comforter. "I mean, he is pretty manly. I assumed you at least saw him shirtless, so he seemed to be your type."

"Hah?" Hazuki scoffed. "What does Takashi-san bein' shirtless have to do with anythin'?"

Rolling her eyes, the other woman gently patted her back. "You were the baseball team manager in high school, _'Mad Dog'_ Amano-san. I'm pretty sure out of all those guys in the team, with the exception of _him_ , Morinozuka-san seems like the perfect guy for you."

Lightly growling at her laughing friend, Hazuki laid back down, and let out a long sigh. She knew she had to go home sooner or later.

" _Mayu-chan,_ " the brunette began. "… _I want Kaori-chan to be happy_ …"

"I know," she chimed. "I won't force you to leave this bed, nor force you out of my place.. But… Maybe, with Morinozuka-san coming into your life, and being engaged to your sister…He's probably not the one,"

"Right," Hazuki sighed.

"I'll go out for a bit, maybe drop by Asayu to check on Kaori," Mayu remarked. "At least eat something, because I don't want to come back here with you dying of starvation,"

As the art student left Hazuki alone, she reluctantly sat up and looked at the clock, before quickly laying back down. It was fine for her to sleep a bit more. Her body felt exhausted. She didn't want to see her father…and she didn't want to see her sister or Takashi as well…Heck, she _never_ wanted to go back home, and think about that engagement, nor confront them about that little spat she had with that creep…If they even found out about it, of course.

_Ding dong._

Did Mayu forget her keys?

Reluctantly pulling herself out of the bed, Hazuki shivered at the cold air, realizing that her skimpy sleepwear of a borrowed t-shirt and her panties didn't keep her warm. Dragging herself to the door, the dreary brunette slowly cracked open the door, feeling the morning air coming into the apartment. She knew she should've put her bra on.

"Mayu-chan…Why did ya forget tha keys?" she whined, wincing at the bright sunlight. "I swear, ya said **I** was irresponsible,"

"Mayu-san told me to come here."

Frozen in her place, the woman did a double take, rubbing her eyes and looking at Takashi gazing down at her. As she tried to slam the door shut, the towering male quietly held the door open, easily overpowering her… His body was hovering over hers, his dark hues looking down at her stunned face. With him cornering her at the front doorway, it was already hard for her to escape.

"S-She told ya to come here?" Hazuki shivered, slowly crossing her arms over her chest to cover herself. " _That bitch…_ "

"Something the matter?" he questioned.

" **OF COURSE, SOMETHIN' IS THE MATTER**!" she screeched, feeling her face turning hot.

Gazing down at her and inspecting her current state, Takashi felt his face turning bright, before quietly looking away from her. " _I'm sorry,_ " he whispered.

"L-Listen, whatever happened between the two of us that night… With me bein' drunk, you takin' me here… **Everything.** Don't tell Kaori," the woman said with a stern look. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea about us,"

" _…It's pretty bad that you're engaged to Kaori-chan. Hazuki-chan kept thinking about what happened between the two of you._ "

Remembering Mayu's words, the male looked at her, brushing away some stray hairs from her face. "Hazuki, listen, I…"

Feeling her cheeks turning hot, Hazuki’s hues quickly darted away from him. "M-Mayu-chan probably asked you to take me home right?" she questioned, turning away from him. "I'll go change, haha..."

Shuffling around the room, Hazuki quietly made way to the bathroom, carrying some clothes that Mayu had put out for her. Locking the door behind her, the woman sat on the ground closing her eyes. It was terrible. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her face was cherry red. She wanted him to touch her again, even if it was just simply holding her hand.

" _…This is for your own good, Hazuki._ "


	5. Chapter 5

"…Aren't we headin' to Asayu?"

A suspicious Hazuki eyed Takashi, as she sat near him in the back of the car. Giving her a quick glance, the male simply shrugged. Something was up, and she didn't know what to say. Her eyes glanced out the tinted windows, trying to pick up they were going.

By the looks of things, they were heading towards the downtown area…Possibly a shopping district.

' _Why there?_ ' she thought, furrowing her eyebrows, giving him a wary look.

As the car pulled up to a sidewalk, Takashi had walked out of the car and opened the door for Hazuki, causing the woman to reluctantly get out with him. Scanning her surroundings, it was difficult for her to figure out where they were at until they began to walk. Brand name stores… Expensive Michelin-tier restaurants…Rich people casually walking around shopping or heading to their destinations.

"G-Ginza?!" she nearly shouted. "W-Why are we at Ginza?!"

"I wanted to get a present for your sister," he replied, without a second thought.

…She should've known.

"Oh…No wonder," Hazuki grinned childishly, nudging him. "Takashi-san, you romantic guy, you~!" she giggled.

The taller male looked at her quietly, looking at her smile for a brief moment, before he quietly began to walk down the street towards a department store. As she followed behind him, Hazuki realized that the distance between them had slowly widened, realizing that she was already having a hard time keeping up.

' _Damn it,_ ' she cursed in her head. "Takashi-san! W-Wait up!" she called out.

"Ah," the man paused, slowing down his pace to a stop, realizing what he had done. "I'm sorry,"

"I-I know you're a tall guy an' all, but jeez!" Hazuki sighed.

Taking her hand into his, the dark-haired male began to walk once more, not noticing her face turning bright red, while they walked together. Various girls looked at the male, admiring him as they passed by him, while others were bemoaning the fact that he already had a girlfriend. It was something that she wasn't exactly used to, compared hanging out with a bunch of rowdy jocks or Mayu most of the time. It was completely out of her comfort zone.

' _Was he_ _ **that**_ _popular in high school or something?_ ' the woman thought, realizing the situation she was in.

"What do you think Kaori-san would like?" he questioned, gazing into one of the windows.

"H-Hah?" she stuttered, snapping out of her train of thought. "K-Kao-chan…would probably like anythin'…as long as it's from you," she nodded.

A tiny smile formed on his face, as his grip on her hand tightened. "…Alright," Takashi replied.

Hazuki didn't want to let go of his hand. It was already a bad idea in the first place for her to even be close to him, more or less be seen like this. She felt happy, and wanted this little faux-date to go on for a bit longer. Yet…

' _…I don't want him to let me go…_ '

* * *

_Whack!_

A sharp pain surged through Hazuki's cheek, as she stood there in silence, touching her cheek. Shortly after arriving at Asayu, Hazuki's father who had been waiting for her. It was clear that he was fuming, enraged over the fact that his daughter was gone for nearly a whole day.

"…I heard what happened last night, Hazuki," Kousuke growled. "Seducing and knocking out a potential business partner's son. Cursing out your Obaachan. Running away during your little sister's party. If it wasn't for Mayu telling me where you were, I would've called the cops! What is the matter with you?! Are you trying to destroy our business?!"

Rather than speaking out in retaliation, Hazuki instead quietly turned and returned to her room, leaving the fuming Kousuke with Takashi.

"Takashi-kun, I apologize for showing such a sight to you," the older male sighed, shaking his head. "Kaori's not going to be back until later tonight, so it's fine if you want to hang out in our place," he smiled.

"Can I drop this off in Kaori-san's room?" Takashi questioned, holding up his bagged gift.

Taking a quick glance at the bag, Kousuke simply nodded at him. "Her room is next door to Hazuki's. Compared to that girl, she actually keeps that place _clean_ ," he remarked.

As Takashi was making way up the stairs towards the residential area, he heard footsteps stomping throughout the place, assuming it was Hazuki. Once he had reached the hallway, he saw Hazuki glancing at him, before retreating off into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"… _Hazuki_ …"

In her room, Hazuki was sitting on the floor, shoving some clothes into an overnight bag. Even after letting it sit for a bit...Her cheek still hurts. She was planning to head out again, and possibly stay the night at Mayu's, just so she wouldn't have to deal with her father. Deep down, she wanted to cry. After what happened in the past few days…She didn't even want to be in this household anymore. She _needed_ to leave.

_Knock. Knock._

"Hazuki?" Takashi questioned, slowly cracking open the door.

Greeted by the brunette, who had her back to him, the man approached her, with a slightly worried look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"…Yeah," she whispered.

Sitting next to her, Takashi placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing her turning towards him. Her eyes didn’t bother looking at him. She tried forcing a _smile_ on her face. A smile that was worrying him more than ever.

"…I hate this," she began, slowly pushing back her locks. "I want to leave this house, but…I don't want to leave my sister behind with all this messy stuff because Oyaji forced her into it… I was a teenager once too."

Touching her cheeks, Takashi slowly raised up her face to get her a good view of her face. Her face was bright red, her eyes were beginning to water, her lower lip quivered briefly. Gently brushing her lower lip with his thumb, Takashi looked at it for a brief moment before leaning in to give her a hug, instead. Feeling herself getting choked up, Hazuki lowered her face into his shoulder, unable to hold back her tears. Reaching up, she held the male tightly, not wanting to let him go.

"… _you_ …" she muttered.

"What?" he questioned.

"…I...I like you, Takashi-san," Hazuki muttered, slowly raising up her head and looking up at him. "I really like you, but… If I get close to you…I might do something I might regret…"

The man's cheeks could feel his cheeks turning hot. Judging from her tone, it was a sincere confession coming from her. For a brief moment, he kept silent, closing his eyes, wondering what to say to her.

"…Hazuki," he began. "Can you at least remember what you did that night?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Hazuki gave a childish pout, as she moved away briefly and quietly wiped away her tears. "W-Why are you asking me this? I was drunk obviously. Other than askin' you to come home with me and wakin' up with you, everything else is a blur," she huffed.

Leaning forward, Takashi looked at the now-blushing brunette before him, before giving her a brief kiss.

"…That's it," he whispered.

Batting her eyes, Hazuki gaped at his statement, covering her lips, and feeling herself stumbling backwards. She really _didn't_ do anything that night. She wanted to scream from the top of her lungs and punch something. Her actions from last night were absolutely terrible, and she was glad she didn't go through with it.

"Wait," Hazuki spoke up, quickly sitting up. "W-We _**really**_ didn't do anything that night? T-Then w-why…"

"You did a lot of things, but we only just _kissed_ ," the man nodded, gently patting her head.

Looking down for a brief moment, the woman simply forced a smile on her face. "Really? Haha," she said. "I must've done something silly. I'm sorry.."

"…It's fine," he muttered, touching her cheek.

The two of them looked at each other. Everything became silent. As they got closer, they kissed once more.

And again.

And _again_.

_I want more._

Chewing on her lip, the woman wrapped her arms around Takashi's neck, pulling herself onto his lap. His hands trailing up her shirt, his rough fingers caressing her skin. Goosebumps formed on her skin, before feeling his hands roaming up to slowly take a hold of her breast. The man’s lips trailed down from hers and onto her neck, playfully sucking on it and hearing her breath becoming hitched.

As he reached over to unhook her bra, the brunette quietly grabbed his arm, shaking her head. " _W-Wait!_ " Hazuki stuttered looking away. "I...I don’t want to do anything...That I might regret."

Stopping briefly, Takashi looked at Hazuki and kissed her. His eyes inspected her shy, reluctant expression, as he quietly took a deep breath and felt his cheeks burning. Giving her a reassuring smile, he leaned in to kiss her once more and held her close to him.

"Then…I'll make it so _**both**_ of us won't regret it,"


	6. Chapter 6

"You're still going to Mayu's apartment?"

Gently touching Hazuki's face, Takashi gazed at the brunette before him, as she covered herself up with her comforter. His dark eyes gazed at her shy face, peering down at the bare woman, while she was hiding from him. They were laying in her bed after what happened between the two in the last hour while trying to keep themselves quiet, and not letting Hazuki's father hear the two of them.

"I am," she muttered, popping her head from underneath the blanket. "Are ya going to wait in Kao-chan's room?"

"…Probably," he replied, brushing away her locks.

"…Then…I should get dressed. You should do the same thing," Hazuki said softly, inspecting his features, and smiling at him.

Putting an arm around her, cradling her in his arms, the man leaned down and kissed her, not showing signs of letting go. "Let me hold you a bit longer," he muttered underneath his breath. 

A sheepish smile formed on her face, as she moved up to kiss him in the jawline. "...What are ya tryin' to pull?" she laughed.

"Nothing," Takashi replied, moving in to kiss her once more, his head lowering to kiss her neck.

"You're definitely pullin' something," she laughed, placing a hand through his dark hair. "You're going to make your future wife blush if you keep saying those things."

Raising up his head, Takashi watched Hazuki's hesitant face, and gently kissed her forehead. "…I wouldn't have told you those things if I wasn't serious about this," he replied softly.

"Then why-"

The man's face had slowly turned red. Looking away from her, Takashi quietly hugged the woman, trying to hide his embarrassed face, while she held him back, not wanting to question him any further. 

"…I have my reasons."

* * *

"Mayu-chan! Are you free tonight? Let's go drinking!"

"Eh~? It'll be bad if I bring you back with me. Hazuki-chan will murder me~"

Eyeing her best friend, Hazuki was sitting at an outside bench at their university, staring at her laptop and focused on the wall of coding on the screen. She was doing a project for her class, and was hurrying to finish it before tonight. Her single classmates were surrounding Mayu, flirting with her. The lavender-haired student smiled sweetly at them, while Hazuki let out a long sigh, trying to ignore their loud voices, before they called out her name once more.

"Hazuki-chaaaaan!" one of the guys called out. "Let's go drinkin' tonight!"

"Why?! I want to finish this!" she screeched. "Go take Mayu-chan and some other girls!"

" _ **Miyama-senpai**_ is going to be there!" another guy shouted. "He wants to see you again!"

Hazuki sat there with a stunned look on her face before Mayu slapped the guy in the back of the head. After a moment of gathering her thoughts, the woman quietly closed her laptop and began to take a walk alone. Muttering an apology to the other guys, Mayu had taken their belongings with her, and quickly ran after her best friend.

"Hazuki-chan!" Mayu called out. " _Waiiiiiiitttttt!_ "

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the woman let out long sigh. "…He _wants_ to see me again…"

"We're only drinking, right?" Mayu smiled. "I mean-"

"…But I'm a terrible drinker 'member!" Hazuki whined. "What if I do somethin' stupid and drag Senpai to your place like I did with Takashi-san?!"

"But you two didn't do anything remember?" Mayu sighed. "He's engaged to your little sister, it's not like you two did anything _ba-_ "

The woman stopped at the sight of Hazuki's beet red face. Watching her kneel onto the ground filled with despair, Mayu stared at her, before eventually realizing what was going on.

"…Did you two do actually did it together? When?" she questioned, stunned at the sight. "…I mean, you went to my place on Saturday, stayed the night…I left you there, asked Morinozuka to pick you up and you returned home Sunda- SUNDAY?! TWO DAYS AGO?! HAZUKI. HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

"IT JUST HAPPENED, OKAY?!" Hazuki bemoaned. "I WAS CRYING, THEN WE KISSED, AND THEN I WANTED MORE, SO HE _SAID-_ "

By passers watched the spectacle going down, with Hazuki on the verge of tears, while Mayu was trying to help her. It wasn't before long, however that the light-haired woman took notice of the watchers, and glared at them, shooing them away.

Kneeling down to her level, Mayu let out a sigh, gently patting Hazuki on the back. "…I really hope Kaori-chan isn't going to find out…I mean, what if she _actually_ likes him too?" the woman questioned furrowing her eyebrows. "You two can't just be fooling around behind her back."

Looking down for a brief moment, the brunette forced a smile on her face.

"…Of course, I have to eventually give him up," Hazuki replied.

"…I can't live like this forever after all,"

* * *

"Yo, Hazuki-chan, it's been a while!"

It was 8 PM, inside of an izakaya. A bright smile formed on the tall, tanned male as waved at the reluctant Hazuki, who was sitting at a table with her high school friends. She quickly looked away out of embarrassment after seeing the man's handsome face, before some of the guys hollered at him, saying their greetings. Gently touching her best friend's shoulder, Hazuki looked at her out of desperation.

"…I'm leavin'-"

"Miyama-senpai! It's been a while!" Mayu chirped, smacking the other woman's arm, without a second thought.

The shy Hazuki took another good look at him, inspecting his overall appearance. Dark hair, cheerful green eyes. He was holding his blazer in one arm, and clearly was sweating from running to the restaurant. Peering down at his underclassmen, the man eyed the brunette before looking at Mayu.

Miyama Touma, the former shortstop at her old high school baseball team, and Hazuki’s first love.

"Something wrong with her?" he questioned.

"She hasn't seen you in a while," the lavender-haired woman laughed.

"H-Hey… Touma-kun," she stuttered.

"Sheesh, you're extremely outta of it, Hazuki-chan," Touma smiled. "We haven't seen each other in, like, what? 2, 3 years?"

"Stop it," she growled, flipping him off. "Man, I'm not a kid anymore!"

"You still act like one," he grinned, shaking his head at her. "At least you look like a cute girl now, instead of strutting around in your gym clothes and that funky top knot, practically 24/7," he noted pointing at her outfit.

“Excuse me?! Who was the one who liked going to Asayu because of free food? Oyaji kept chunks of my allowance because of you!”

"C'mon, you two stop flirting," one of the guys laughed.

"We're _**not**_ flirting!" "We're _**not**_ flirting!"

The two of them looked at each other childishly, as a few people shuffled around, eventually having both Touma and Hazuki sitting across from each other. With Mayu sitting next to Hazuki, she looked at the pair who had quickly made up after a minute of glaring, slapping each other's hands like little kids, and taking their first sips of their beers. Rolling her eyes, the woman couldn't help, but to snicker at the two of them.

"…I wonder what would've happened if you two actually dated," Mayu remarked to herself.

" ** _HUH?_** " the paired questioned eyeing her.

"Yeah, didn't you ask her out back then?"

"Shh. I think Amano-chan is still depressed over what happened during the Koushien!"

"Koushien?! Miyama-senpai, you asked her out while we were competing in the Koushien?!"

Putting down her glass, Hazuki shook her head at them. "…Stuff happened between us and it went terribly wrong," she began. "That's that…So, let's just drink, okay?!"

With a bright smile on her face, she began to drink down her beer while Touma watched her, trying to hold back the urge to laugh. Instead, he casually took sips of his drink, before hearing her slam down her glass, asking for a refill from the waiter.

"…Hazuki-chan," he began. "Did something happen to you?"

"Why do you want to know? Did something happen to _you_?" she joked.

Putting down his glass, the older male closed his eyes. "Something _did_ happen to me," Touma sighed, trying to keep a smile on his face.

Letting out a childish huff, Hazuki shook her head at him. "Okay then," she muttered, before feeling his hand touching hers.

Looking at him, the brunette felt her cheeks turning hot, Touma smiled at her briefly at her, quietly squeezing her hand. Her eyes darted towards the others who were casually fooling around, not paying any attention to the pair. Hazuki could see his face inching close to hers, smelling the alcohol emitting from his lips.

"Hey, Hazuki…" he whispered into her ear.

Touma had a serious look on his face. That recognizable face that she remembered from the other night. That same face that she had when she confessed her feelings to Takashi.

' _No…_ ' she thought. ' _Nonononononono. Not now!_ ' she begged in her head, trying to look away from him.

"You know, after all this time, I want you to know… I still-"

"Here you are! One beer!" the waiter called out, as the pair quickly backed away from each other, hearing the glass slamming down nearby the woman.

Looking at Hazuki, Mayu rose an eyebrow at her best friend and her upperclassman, curious about what had just happened between the two of them. Picking up the glass, Hazuki eyed Touma for a moment, before gulping down the beer without a second thought.

Staring at the brunette, Mayu tried to pry the beer away from the woman, with a concerned look on her face. "Slow down, you shouldn't be drinking _so much-_ "

_BAM!_

Slamming the glass on the table, a bright faced Hazuki looked over at her purple-haired best friend, before slowly resting her head on her shoulder, and hugged her friend's arm like a small child. Closing her eyes, Hazuki wanted to forget what had just happened between her and the man. She wanted to only rest for now.

However…

Recalling Mayu's words from earlier, it was hard for her to ignore the fact that she had another problem to worry about:

" _…I mean, what if she actually likes him? You two can't just be fooling around behind her back_."

Cracking open her eyes, the dazed Hazuki looked over at the chatting Touma, and remembered what happened between her and Takashi back in her room.

' _…I don't want to end this_.'


	7. Chapter 7

"We're back!"

"Oh, Mayu. Thanks for bringing back, Hazuki _agai-_ **Touma-kun**?!"

Kousuke stared at the smiling man giving Hazuki a piggy back, as he quickly shuffled out from behind the counter. Looking up, Takashi stared at the former baseball player, as he watched him converse with the older male. Her face was looking peaceful and content while she hugged her upperclassman. With his eyes watching the woman, he didn't notice Mayu greeting him and his fiancée.

" _He used to frequent here with some of the other guys from Oneechan's high school baseball team,_ " Kaori whispered, snapping him out of his train of thought.

"Yeah, don't worry," Mayu sighed. "We were invited by some guys from the old baseball team. Hazuki-chan got angry after they made fun of her, and she ended up drinking too much again."

"Did she cause you trouble again?" Kousuke teased.

"No, sir!" Touma laughed. "We were playing around, and then she passed out. I offered to carry her back here, since Mayu-chan was struggling. You should see the pictures of her, Amano-san!"

Gently nudging the man, the older male grinned at him. "You were always so reliable, weren't cha?" he said. "Y'know, if you're still single, I don't mind if you date her!"

"Ojisan," Mayu spoke up, shaking her head. "Sorry to interrupt, but can I bring Hazuki to her room while you two talk?"

"Ah, I can do it _Mayu-cha-_ "

"No, **_I'll_** do it," Takashi interrupted, rising from his seat.

Looking at him with curiosity, Touma slowly nodded at the other man. He watched Takashi taking Hazuki off of his back and into his arms, carefully taking her upstairs into her room. A suspicious look formed on the upperclassman's face, as he turned to her father wondering about the other man. 

"That's Takashi-kun," Kousuke said. "Kaori-chan's fiancé. He's been kind to both of the girls ever since the two of them got arranged to be married,"

"Arranged?" Touma questioned.

"Yeah," Mayu sighed at him. "Back when Obasan left, this place was about to close. Takashi-san's family pretty much wanted to help Ojisan's family, as long as their son and Kaori got hitched. It was supposed to be him and Hazuki."

Rolling his eyes, Kousuke quietly wandered back to the counter to resume his work. “Hazuki… doesn’t need to be involved with those sorts of things, Mayu-chan,” he noted. “Kaori-chan has made a great impression to Takashi-san’s family and Takashi, himself. She’ll be a good wife to him.”

Forcing a smile on her face, feeling her hand tightening up into a fist, the artist slowly nodded. “Y-Yeah, of course, she will!” 

Watching the two of them talk, Touma pursed his lips briefly and nodded. “Him and Kaori-chan, huh…?” he muttered to himself.

"After seeing what happened earlier tonight, you'd better properly talk to her, Miyama-senpai," Mayu explained, eyeing him. "If you haven't moved on from her, she might have moved on from you."

Watching her approach Kaori and greeting her, Touma looked away and frowned. Remembering her face from earlier, he couldn't help it. He knew should've said something to her while he had the chance. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at the remaining people at the restaurant at smiled at them.

"I'll come back to visit. I can drink now, so it doesn’t hurt to become a regular here," he said to Kousuke, as he left Asayu with a determined look on his face.

* * *

After setting down Hazuki on her bed, Takashi sat down on her bed, pushing away her messy locks, and revealing her sleeping face. The woman was mumbling as she slept, but what irritated him, was the smell of another man’s cologne lingering off of her. 

"… _Hazuki_ …" he whispered, gently cupping her face, and giving her a brief kiss on the forehead.

As he got up, Takashi heard the woman tossing and turning in her bed. Turning around, he looked at her, noticing her slowly opening her eyes, and sitting up on her bed. 

"Hazuki?" he questioned.

"Ah… Takashi-san's here…" she muttered. “Mmm...You look so cool~.”

Staring at the half-awake woman, the man let out a sigh. Gently touching her shoulders, Takashi lowered himself to her level, staring into her dazed eyes. "I'll get you some water, just wait here," he said sternly.

Before he could move away, however, the man had felt her arms quickly wrapping around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. Her hands lowered, trying to pull up his shirt, her fingertips brushing against his abs. Immediately stopping her, Takashi looked at her with an embarrassed look on his face. 

"Hey, not now," he sighed. “Let me get you water and you can go to bed.”

Pouting, Hazuki narrowed her eyes at him childishly. Without hesitation she stripped off her blouse, and stared at the man. Averting his eyes, the male took a deep breath. She was wearing _dark blue_ underneath that white undershirt. 

“... _You’re the only one, I want... **Stupid,**_ ” she huffed, moving closer to him. 

Looking at her quietly, he gently tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Moving in to kiss her, he looked at her with a small smile on his face. Slowly opening his mouth to reply to her, the man stopped for a moment: he was hesitating. 

“You…” he began. ‘ _Are the only one I want too…_ ’

Takashi couldn’t finish his sentence. Even though their feelings were mutual, could they be actually open about their relationship? He was unsure about her younger sister’s feelings… It was harder for them to come out about their relationship if her own father was against her marrying into his. Reluctantly looking at her flushed face, he let out a long sigh. 

"You…need to go to bed. We have classes tomorrow and… I don’t know if it’s okay if I can stay over."

Pausing, turning away and hugging her pillow, Hazuki pouted at him. "Seriously…? Don’t tease me like that! I wanted you to fuc-" she sobbed.

"You’re going to sleep," he interrupted, with a commanding tone. "We could be doing something about that… _tomorrow_ …"

After a moment of hearing her sobbing into her pillow, the man soon heard a light snore escaping from the woman's lips. Letting out a long sigh, Takashi gently wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and gently brushed back her locks. 

' _She's exactly like that time…_ ' he thought in his head, remembering that so-called 'one night stand' he had with her.

* * *

Inside of Kaori's room, the girls were lounging around with the television on for the past hour. Afterwards, Mayu had gone out to smoke, casually taking in the night air and relaxing for the time being. Sitting on her bed, Kaori looked at the lavender haired woman, with a curious look on her face.

"Mayu-chan," Kaori spoke up. "I forgot to say…t-thanks for bringing Oneechan back,"

"Ah, no problem," she replied with a casual shrug. "You know I can’t let her sleeping out on the street. When you’re our age, you know I’ll be doing the same for you too," she laughed.

Batting her eyes, Kaori felt her cheeks turning hot, reluctantly nodding to her. "…T-Thanks...”

Looking back at the girl, Mayu extinguished her cigarette, noticing the younger Amano girl's sudden change in attitude. "…Hm?" she muttered. "Something the matter? Are you getting sick? Did you want me to get your sis?"

As she began to fidget, Kaori looked at the older woman shyly. "…Mayu-chan. I want to tell you something… But you might get mad at me… Or even hate me."

Raising an eyebrow at her, the woman approached her and gently patted her head with a hearty smile on her face. "Sweetie, you're my best friend's sister and your Papa treats me like his own. Overall, you're pretty much my sister too. I can't get angry at you," she laughed.

Feeling her heart thumping in her chest, the teenager bit her lip. "…Mayu-chan. Do you have someone you like?"

"Haha, this talk?" Mayu questioned. "Why would asking me about who I like, make me angry?" she laughed, patting the girl's shoulder. "No, I don't, silly! I sleep around, but I don't think I'll be looking for a boyfriend anytime soon!"

Batting her blue eyes and looking down, Kaori nodded at her. "…Right," she whispered. "… _A boyfriend_."

Something felt wrong with the picture.

Looking at her with confusion, Mayu couldn't help, but to bat her eyes at the teen. "Yeah, a _boyfriend_. Is there something wrong?"

"…Mayu-chan…" Kaori began, feeling a tight feeling welling up in her chest.

"…I like you. I really…like you."


	8. Chapter 8

"…I like you. I really like you…"

Feeling her cheeks turning red, the woman stared at the younger girl with a stunned look on her face. Letting her mouth drop a bit, Mayu was slowly trying to process what had just happened. Her best friend’s younger sister confessed her feelings to her. There were girls in the past who had done this to her… But either in a playful manner or in a drunken stupor. She didn’t have a hard time laughing it off versus her current situation.

"Kaori-chan…" she began, gently touching her shoulder. “There are plenty of _other_ people out there! _Why_ me? I smoke, drink, sleep with lots of people… Hell, you’re engaged to a rich, handsome guy! Isn’t Morinozuka-san good _enou-_ ”

"…It doesn't mean you're still cool and a good person!" Kaori interrupted. "Oneechan relies on you a lot. If you were a boy…I would've thought you could be Oneechan's boyfriend."

Gaping at her, Mayu quickly shook her head. " **Me?** Hazuki's _boyfriend_ …?" she echoed. "Oh please, you know she probably has someone she likes!" she laughed.

"Like…Touma-kun…?"

Freezing in her place, the woman looked away briefly. ' _…Well, no shit. I can't just say Hazuki's banging her fiancé,_ ' she thought grimly.

"I mean, Onee-chan loved Touma-kun, didn’t she?" she questioned. “Are they not getting back together?”

"Kaori-chan…" Mayu began. "…You know, if I accept your feelings, it's going to be hard to be open about our relationship," she remarked. "You're engaged and marrying into wealth. I'm your sister's best friend. People aren't going to accept us so easily."

Slowly approaching her, the brunette hugged the older woman. "…Then, I don't mind if you sleep over. You've done that with Oneechan right?"

Batting her eyes, the artist chewed on her lip. "Our sleepovers are different from what you're thinking. I let her sleep on my bed, or she lets me sleep on her bed! Besides…I can't just sleep with you on the same bed. You're…different," she muttered, feeling her cheeks turning red.

Looking at her embarrassed expression, Kaori batted her eyes at the woman, before turning away and laughing. "Mayu-chan…You look cute when you blush!" she said brightly, as the woman flicked her in the forehead.

"Shut up! You should realize, I can't be like those guys who would hold your hand and kiss you," Mayu muttered. "I'm not used to doing that with guys…More or less, _with a girl_ …"

Reluctantly nodding towards her, the younger Amano girl let out a long sigh. "I know," she pouted.

Eyeing the depressed teen, the woman pushed back her bangs and kissed her forehead. "I can still do this," she smiled.

Hugging the older woman, Kaori couldn't help, but to smile. However, Mayu felt guilty. What was she supposed to do? She didn't know if she was going to fall in love with the poor girl, and didn't know how Hazuki would react to such a thing, knowing the situation.

Patting her head, the older woman gave a reassuring smile at the girl. "Let's go to sleep?"

* * *

"…I'm… sorry."

Kneeling on the ground as they waited for a car to arrive, Hazuki let out a huge cry, as she looked over at the sighing man. She looked at him shyly, trying to recall the events of last night, but nothing had popped up. Everything felt blurry to her, other than the fact that she was half-naked, drunk, and smelled two types of cologne hanging off of her. It was an eerie feeling bubbling up inside of her.

Clearing up his throat, Takashi glanced at the shorter woman. "…Well, seems like you don't mind if I woke you up this morning.”

Feeling her face turning hotter, Hazuki covered her face and eyed him. “Do...you normally do it to other girls?”

Holding her hand briefly, the man looked at her and smiled. “Jealous?” he teased. "You looked cute on top."

With her cheeks burning, the woman lightly slapped his arm out of embarrassment. "I-I... can't do that all the time...!" she stuttered, before seeing him lean down to kiss her.

"This is fine too," he noted, watching at her shyly nod at him. "I prefer this more."

As the pair smiled at each other, a brief moment has passed before they became silent. Looking at him quietly, Hazuki felt nervous. Pursing her lips, the brunette turned to face him. She needed to know and needed to ask him sooner or later.

"W-Who carried me home last night? Was it Mayu-chan? _Or_ …"

"Touma-san…" Takashi replied. "He seemed like a nice person. Kousuke-san seemed to like him for you,"

Chewing on her lip, the brunette looked down with a guilty look on her face. "Well, yeah. I used to be the manager of the baseball team, and he used to come around Asayu a lot," she began. "That stupid old man…He wanted me to date him since he thinks I'll be forever alone."

"…Did anything happen between the two of you last night?" the man questioned, looking down at Hazuki.

Batting her eyes, the woman froze up in her place. Feeling her heart beating faster, she could easily recall the smell of her upperclassman's cologne and alcohol being close to her. With her face turning bright red, she looked down and slowly tightened the grip on his hand.

" _We…"_ she began.

"Oh, Hazuki-chan!" a voice called out.

As the pair looked up to see Mayu emerging from the house, they released each other's hands, hoping to not get spotted by Kaori, who was at the doorway, still chatting with Kousuke. Feeling the guilt forming inside of her, Hazuki glanced over at her lover, who had his phone out, and answering a call.

"…You seemed pretty okay this morning," the artist grinned. "I thought you would be crying,"

Forcing a smile on her face, Hazuki laughed at her friend. “Oh, no," the girl sighed. “I felt better after waking up this morning...”

Looking at the two of them suspiciously, a smug look was on Mayu’s face. Moving close to her friend, she playfully put an arm around her shoulder. “ _Hm? So, is that why you took a bit long in the shower this morning?_ ” she whispered, as the brunette slapped her.

"Takashi-san, Oneechan, good morning!" Kaori greeted, approaching the group.

"Kaori-san, good morning to you too," he smiled at the younger Amano.

Looking at the sight of her sister and Takashi smiling together, Hazuki felt her throat tightening up. The guilt was getting to her. She couldn’t do this. As the driver pulled up to them, the man looked over at the ladies thoughtfully.

"Do you need a ride?" he questioned.

"A-Ah," Hazuki spoke up. "Mayu-chan and I have classes a bit later, so I'll be riding with her! Kao-chan, you should ride with him! If those boys see you with Takashi-san, they'll probably be too intimidated to go after ya! Takashi-san should flirt with her or hold her hand in front of them! Or~ Go on a date after school! Yeah! A date sounds really nice, haha..."

Both Mayu and Takashi saw the woman forcing a smile on her face while she said that. As Kaori reluctantly nodded at her older sister, and went inside the car, the man pulled Hazuki aside, and looked at her strangely.

"Is something the matter?" he questioned.

"Listen," she began, her tone becoming serious. "I… don’t know about this… About _us_."

“Us?” he questioned. “What about _us_?”

Laughing nervously, Hazuki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know… I said I like you… and we’ve been fooling around for the past few nights, _but_...” she trailed off, taking a deep breath. “I can’t do this anymore… We **need** to end this.”

Gently touching her cheek, the man looked at her pained expression. He wanted to hug her…Probably kiss her as well. However, with the driver honking at him, all he could see was his lover backing away from him and waving goodbye to him, giving him that forced smile on her face once more.

"Takashi-san…" she began. "Even if it was for a short time, thank you…and goodbye."

With his hand closing up to a fist, the man reluctantly turned around to go back into his car, leaving Hazuki standing there, trying to hold back the urge to cry. As Mayu approached her, the brunette looked at her, with tears forming in her eyes.

"H-hey, what happened?" the artist questioned, slowly hugging her best friend.

"Mayu-chan…" she began. "…If you're going to another goukon anytime soon, invite me, okay?"

Hearing her friend slowly beginning to cry, she eyed the car that was slowly disappearing off into a distance. Frowning at the sight of it, Mayu nodded, and hugged Hazuki tightly.

"…Don’t worry…You’ll find someone good, eventually. "

* * *

" _Even if it was for a short time, thank you…and_ _ **goodbye**_ _._ "

Embedded in his head was Hazuki’s face: a look of regret behind a smile. Already… it felt like they became distant the next time he had saw her. She had purposely avoided him and spoke to him when she had to. It was difficult for him to bring up the topic without her skirting around the issue.

Letting out a long sigh, Takashi watched his cousin casually eating cake. Today is one of the few monthly get-togethers that they were having at the former Prince type's home.Without their usual customers, the atmosphere felt like it hasn’t changed: it was still lively, just a notch down compared to back then.

“Mori-senpai, you seem to be… off today,” Kaoru noted, raising an eyebrow at him. “When you came in earlier, you kept looking at your phone.”

“Is it that fiancee of yours?” Hikaru snickered. “I mean, she looks like the type who needs help a lot.”

Quietly shaking his head, Takashi looked at the twins. “...Not her, it’s...”

“Hazuki-chan, right?” Mitsukuni answered, pausing briefly from his cake eating.

“Oh~,” the twins chimed, leaning closer together to look at their upperclassman.

“That girl who ran away from us, right?” Kaoru said, with an inquisitive look on his face.

“Yeah. “ _Protect my sister!”_ is what she told us during that party,” Hikaru remarked, looking over to Takashi. “Didn’t know you would worry about _her_ , more.”

Nodding, the former Stoic type looked at Hikaru. "I know she means well," he said.

A brief silence passed before the former Natural type had approached them holding a tray with tea, cups, and snacks. As she began pouring the tea, Haruhi eyed the twins, who had been carefully inspecting her appearance. With her hair growing longer, they noticed her appearance looking strikingly similar to the Amano sisters.

"Doesn't she remind you of Haruhi?" Kaoru questioned.

"Huh?" the girl questioned.

"She did have short hair, but she didn't look like a guy," the other twin nodded. "It was like Haruhi split apart into those two sisters!"

"...Aren't you two being a bit rude?" Haruhi questioned, glaring at the two of them.

"She doesn't remember it, but…Hazuki had told me a lot about herself before," Takashi began, looking over at Haruhi briefly. “About how she wanted to get a job to work with the stars.. ”

Perking up at the little fact, Kyouya glanced up towards Takashi, making a mental note of his comment. Before he could speak up about it, the double doors of the foyer flew open, with Tamaki standing there with a proud look on his face. As the younger members glanced at him for a brief moment, they reluctantly nodded to him, pretending to acknowledge his existence.

" _ **EVERYONE! Listen up!**_ " the Frenchman began.

"…So was Hazuki-chan pouring her heart out to you, or something?" Kaoru asked, ignoring the former President.

“If she didn’t remember it… Probably she was drunk or something?” Haruhi noted, sipping her tea.

“But _why_ would she be ignoring Mori-senpai _now_?” Hikaru muttered, taking a bite of the cookie.

Shuffling towards the tiny group, the blond looked at the others, tears forming in his violet eyes. "H-Hey! I have an announcement!" he whined.

"Tono, please. Mori-senpai has a problem with Hazuki-chan. Read the air here!" Hikaru barked.

Sitting in the corner, Tamaki let out a sigh. "I'm…sorry, Mori-senpai," he muttered.

"No, it's all right," the Stoic type said, shaking his head. "Tamaki, you can go on ahead."

"Seeing that Mori-senpai got engaged to _Hazuki-cha-_ "

"Kaori-chan," the twins chimed.

A blank stare formed on Tamaki's face, doing a double take at them. "…Kaori-chan…" he echoed. "Then…who's Hazuki-chan…?"

"…The girl that Mori-senpai likes, Kaori-chan's sister," Haruhi remarked, with a blank look on her face. "We were at their engagement party. Kaori-chan has long hair, Hazuki-san has short hair,"

A brief silence passed, before the blond looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment. As the twins began to laugh at the man who began screaming at them, Haruhi looked over at her upperclassman thoughtfully. Sliding over a chair, the girl sat next to him and looked up at the taller male.

"From what I heard, you really seemed to adore her, didn't you?" she questioned.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Takashi closed his eyes for a brief moment. Looking at him oddly, Haruhi noticed him deep in thought, before he looked at his underclassman with a sullen smile on his face.

"…It was a lot more than adoring her... I couldn't tell her, how I felt about her."


	9. Chapter 9

"Cheers!"

A bright smile formed on Hazuki's face, while she sat next to Mayu, some girls from the Art department, and a few guys from a different school. A month had passed by since she had last properly talked with Takashi. With Hazuki focused on school and job hunting, tonight was one of the many times she had gone on a goukon. It was a perfect opportunity to forget him...

_Yeah, right._

It was difficult for her to keep her calm around her ex-lover whenever she saw him. He often popped up in Asayu, whenever she was working. Although she often joked around with him, teasing him when he was acting sweet to her little sister… Somehow, an awful feeling always bubbled up inside of her whenever she saw those two acting like a couple. It felt painful and irritating.

"I'm Nakamura Mayu, majoring in Art. Nice to meet you, fellas!"

Unable to pay attention to the introductions, Hazuki found herself deep in thought. It wasn't until her best friend smacked her arm, causing the brunette to come back into reality, and finding herself turning red.

"H-Huah?!"

"…Is your head in the clouds again? Introduce yourself," Mayu sighed.

"A-Ah," Hazuki stuttered. "A-Amano Hazuki. I major in Aerospace Engineering, n-nice to meet you…?”

"Aerospace Engineering…?" one of the guys questioned.

"Rocket science," Mayu smiled, jabbing at her friend. "Right?"

Nodding to her, the woman smiled sheepishly as the guys looked at her oddly. As everyone began to talk, the brunette sat there shyly. She already regretted coming along. The restaurant was a bit of a distance from her place. If she happened to get drunk…It was hard for her to get back home later on. She didn't want to end up in bed again with some guy again.

"Rocket science, huh?" one of the guys spoke up, looking at the brunette. "Do you like the stars or something?"

"It's something like that!" she chirped.

As the pair began to talk, Mayu looked over to her and smiled. However, before she could jump into their little talk, her phone began to vibrate nearby her. A message had arrived.

> _Are you and Oneechan coming back home tonight?_
> 
> _-Kaori_

Quickly tapping her fingers on the touchscreen, Mayu quickly typed out her reply to her, before hearing two guys trying to get her attention.

> _Keep the back door unlocked._
> 
> _I wanna see you._
> 
> _-Mayu_

Shortly after Kaori's confession to her…The two of them met up whenever Hazuki was home. Of course, the artist had to make an excuse to sleep over, often claiming she was drunk or too lazy to go home. Her little 'sleepovers' were simple cuddle sessions with the younger Amano sister. It wasn’t anything too explicit between the two.

"Excuse me! Another beer!" Hazuki called out, raising up her empty glass.

Looking at her best friend, Mayu couldn't help, but to feel a bit…concerned, as the night went on however. Hazuki kept drinking, without any signs of stopping.

"Eh~?! Hazuki-chan, you're drinking too fast!" a guy shouted with a hearty laugh.

Across the room, a group of older gentlemen eyed the group, as they shrugged off their rowdy behavior.

"Ah, they look like they're around Touma-kun's age," an older man sighed. "You look like you would fit in there, right? That girl with the short brown hair looks like she would get along well with you."

Sipping his beer, the dark-haired male batted his eyes before noticing a familiar face smiling across the room. Nearly finding himself choking on the beverage, the office man stared at his cheery underclassman, slurring out random things that could potentially embarrass her. Inspecting her appearance, he _knew_ it was going downhill from there.

This…wasn't just some coincidence.

“Hazuki?” Touma spoke up.

As she heard her name, Hazuki quickly ducked behind Mayu trying to hide from that voice. With her best friend moving aside and his co-workers cheering their young co-worker on, there was already a commotion going down between the two. Approaching her, the man looked at the slumping girl, who was nursing her beer.

"Sheesh," he sighed. "Mayu-chan, you're being a bad influence on her."

Rolling her eyes, the artist slapped the back of Touma's leg. " _Excuse me?_ We needed another girl for this. Hazuki-chan wouldn't let me go alone, y'know?" she lied.

Reluctantly nodding towards him, the woman smiled sheepishly towards her upperclassman, before feeling his hand quickly grabbing Hazuki’s arm. As the others stared at the seemingly aggressive man, Mayu simply let out a long sigh, shaking her head at his rough attitude.

" _ **You're comin' with me**_ ," he growled at the brunette, before looking at everyone with a smile. "Sorry, guys! I'm taking her with me!"

Before she could protest, the fuming Touma had taken her hand into his, leading her out of the restaurant. As soon as they got out, however, Hazuki quickly yanked her hand away from him. She tottered towards the nearby street pole, clinging onto it with a stubborn look on her face.

“Ugh… Leave me alone, Senpai...” the brunette hissed. “I wanna have fun with boys…!”

"Seriously?" the man sighed, pointing at her appearance. “You look like a **damn** mess! Drinking isn’t going to solve anything!”

"Hey! I have my reasons, okay?" Hazuki argued, stomping her foot on the ground like a child.

Watching her for a moment, Touma slowly walked over to her. Seeing her childish expression, he slowly grabbed her hand and stood there with her. Bypassers glanced at the sight, while Touma tried to ignore their casual comments towards them.

“I have the entire night to listen to you,” he said softly. “C’mon. I don’t want you getting sick out here.”

Remembering what happened last month, she reluctantly released the pole and got closer to him. The guilt was getting to her. Looking up at him, a sullen look formed on her face.

"…I… I fell in love with my little sister's fiancé," she began. "He…got engaged to her because they were willing to help the restaurant... But even though I said I loved him...I became selfish and made him do a lot of things I wasn't proud of...I...I just really, really love him, Senpai."

His grip on her hand became tighter, as the man tried to resist the urge to pull her into a hug. Instead, his free hand slowly slid through his hair.

"Still, drinking like this isn't going to solve anything," he muttered. “What if you went with a guy who did bad things to you?”

“...I...I don’t know...” she replied.

Seeing this situation… He didn’t want to let her go home alone at this state. Knowing how far Asayu was… It was bound to be dangerous. If he escorted her… He couldn’t make the last train back to his place, either.

"Listen, I don't know Mayu was going taking you home-"

"You know she can't drive her bike at this rate!" she whined.

"Don't take it the wrong way," Touma said sternly.

"…Let's go to my place."

* * *

Entering the apartment, a slightly sobered up Hazuki eyed the older male with an envious look on her face. It was a fairly large apartment, and looked well-kept with the exception of a few shirts scattered here and there on the couch. As Touma headed into the kitchen, the woman reluctantly took off her shoes and wandered inside, sitting down on his plush couch.

Holding up a pair of glasses and a bottle of mugicha, Touma grinned at her. "Tea?" he questioned.

"Seriously?" she scoffed.

"I'm trying to be polite, idiot!" he huffed. "…I can't just send you back alone in the dark. Especially with your best friend is probably sleeping with some guy."

"…She's been doing that since we graduated high school," Hazuki shrugged, stretching out her arms. “I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten pregnant yet.”

Looking at her with concern, Touma placed down the glasses filled with tea on the table, and sat next to her. "…You know," he began. "You weren't wrong when you said that… You know, about falling in love with someone who's taken. "

Tilting her head questionably, she looked at the dark-haired man as he sat next to her. "Did something happen with you and your girlfriend?" she asked.

"…She suddenly broke it off with me, saying she was in love with my best friend," he sighed. "I should've known."

Looking down briefly with a sad look on her face, Hazuki slowly nodded. "Well, she said she wanted to confess to you back then… Mayu told me she wanted to get married recently, so… I thought you two would’ve done so. "

"But, that didn't mean I had to hurt you," Touma replied, shaking his head. "You were probably really hurt by that back then, weren't you?"

Batting her eyes, Hazuki looked at him for a brief moment. There were plenty of words that could’ve described that day between the two of them.

'… _You hurt me a lot_ _more than you think._ '

Forcing a smile on her face, the woman reluctantly nodded at him. "I'm over it now, obviously!" she joked.

"T-That's good," he nodded. "So, uh…I'll take the couch and you can take my bed?"

Quickly shaking her head, Hazuki looked at him. "It's fine, I can sleep on the couch," she smiled. "Unless you were plannin' something naughty?" she questioned, eyeing him.

The man's cheeks quickly turned hot, as he quickly rushed towards his room, and looked at her with a flabbergasted look on his face. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY!" he shouted.

As the two of them began to laugh at each other, it wasn't before long, that Hazuki had found herself slowly breaking down and crying. Touma watched quietly, before heading towards her, and gently placed a throw over her shoulders.

* * *

"…You took her to your place, Touma-kun?"

Kousuke looked at the bowing pair in front of him. The two of them had arrived before the restaurant had opened, with a flabbergasted Kaori greeting them. Seeing her sister sporting clothes she wore the night before, she had _assumed_ something had happened between the two of them.

"I'm sorry to make you worried, Amano-san," Touma smiled.

"I would've called, but my phone died last night," Hazuki grumbled, casually scratching the back of her head. "My bad, Oyaji."

Folding his arms over his chest, the chef approached the pair, before grinning at Touma. "…You take good care of this idiot, here," he said.

"WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' 'IDIOT', OYAJI?!" the woman barked.

"N-Nothing happened between us, I assure you!" the former shortstop stuttered.

"But Oneechan," Kaori spoke up. "Mayu-chan told me you two liked each other, so it would make better sense if you both started dating…Right?"

With the younger Amano daughter smiling at them, Hazuki face palmed at her, and a blushing Touma watching her expression. Seeing how she was last night, it was already tempting for him to take advantage of this current situation. He didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

Approaching her, the dark-haired male reluctantly smiled at Kaori. "Kaori-chan… Hazuki and I…We'll talk about this alone."

Looking over at him, Hazuki quietly nodded towards Touma, before leading him towards the residential part of the building. It slowly became deathly silent between the two as they were heading towards the stairwell, as the woman stopped briefly and turned towards him.

"Well," she began. "Is it okay…if I go change?" she questioned. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Hazuki," her upperclassman began. "I really want to get this out there. Do you still have any sort of feelings for me? Even in the slightest?"

Standing there, the woman looked at him quietly. "Even I don't know," she replied. "If…I said 'Yes'…What would you do?"

"…The obvious thing," he said. "I would make you happy."

A blank stare formed on her face, forcing herself to back away from him. "…Ew. I feel disturbed with you saying that, Senpai," she remarked. “What happened to you?”

"I'm serious," Touma said. "Hazuki… Will you go out with me?"

Looking down for a moment, her heart began to pound in chest. Closing her eyes, the woman felt herself choking up. Memories of that day immediately came flooding back into her head. Immediately snapping out of that trance, she forced a smile on her face, looking at the stern look on her upperclassman’s face.

"W-Why are you asking me this? You know what I said last night, about how I feel about Ta-"

"I'm not going to force you to forget him…But, do you think waiting for him forever is the right thing to do?" he questioned.

“I...” the brunette stopped.

“ _Ah. Oneechan’s probably busy? But you can wait in my room, Takashi-san!_ ”

Hearing footsteps coming in from afar, and some familiar voices from a distance, Hazuki could feel her blood turning cold. Closing her eyes, she moved in to hug Touma, burying her face into his shoulder…She _**didn't**_ want to do this to him. Hell, she _hated_ doing this to him. However, she knew this was the right thing to do.

" _I'll…go out with you_ ," she whispered, feeling his arms wrapping around her.

The older male furrowed his eyebrows, hearing the voices getting louder and the sound of a sliding door clapping shut. As he pulled away from her, Touma gave a reassuring smile at her.

"…I'll be waiting outside for you, okay?" he said.

Watching her retreat upstairs to her bedroom, the man saw Takashi and Kaori coming down the hallway and towards the stairwell, giving them a victorious smile. Looking at his expression, Kaori's face quickly lit up as she approached Touma, curious over what had happened between the two.

"How did it go?" she questioned. "Are you and Oneechan going out now?"

Looking over at Touma, Takashi eyed the man who smirked back at him. He didn't know what was going on. Going out? All he knew about Touma from her little sister was they _**used to**_ like each other. Emphasize ‘ _used to_ ’. It was in the past between the two.

"Yeah. She just said ' _Yes_ ', right now," Touma beamed.

"That's so great, Touma-kun!" Kaori replied.

' _No…It isn't._ '

"Yeah, when we decide to go out, let's go on a double date!"

' _We shouldn't._ '

"Since you two are getting married, I'm hoping when we get married, our kids should be playmates."

'… _That will never happen_.'

As Kaori laughed alongside with Touma, she had eventually disappeared upstairs into her room. However, Takashi looked at the other male, feeling like his blood was boiling. Something didn’t feel right with this picture.

"…Just to let you know," Touma began, eyeing the other male with a cold look in his eyes. "I asked her out, because I _still_ have feelings for her. She deserves someone better."

"Then you should go for those other girls, _**not**_ her," Takashi remarked, glaring at him.

Leaning in closer, the baseball player patted the former host's shoulder. "…Then, do something about you two. Because, one day, she won't be living here anymore."

Footsteps could be heard once more. This time, heading downstairs. Hazuki soon appeared before the two with a curious look on her face. Noticing they had been talking, she quietly smiled at Takashi. Without hesitation, Touma grabbed her hand causing the woman to focus her attention onto him, her cheeks becoming flushed.

As they headed out the door, the brunette looked over at him. "…Do you regret saying that?" she whispered.

"No, I don't."


End file.
